Sticky Gingerbread Cupcakes

These delicious sticky gingerbread cupcakes are made with ground ginger, chopped stem ginger and brushed with ginger syrup so they’re packed full of flavour and perfectly moist. The ideal treat for any gingerbread lovers.

When I was little I remember we almost always had a roast dinner for Sunday lunch and then a little buffet of sandwiches and cake for tea in the evening. One of my favourite cakes at teatime was Jamaican Ginger Cake. I decided it was about time I made my own version of this delicious cake to share with you.

These sticky gingerbread cupcakes get their gingeriness three ways to make sure they’re packed full of flavour.

First I use plenty of ground ginger. Quite a few other recipes I’ve seen add other spices such as cinnamon to the ginger, but I’m a ginger purist and I prefer just ginger (I was the same with my gingerbread biscuits too).

Secondly I’ve finely chopped up balls of stem ginger which means you get little bursts of ginger running through the cake. It’s important that these are chopped finely other wise they can be a little hard and tend to sink to the bottom of the cake. It’s also a good idea to coat the chopped stem ginger with a little flour before adding them to the cake mix. This helps keep it all evenly distributed throughout the cake as it cooks.

Finally the cakes are brushed with the syrup from the stem ginger twice. Once straight after baking, allowing the syrup to soak into the sponge while it’s still hot. Then again once the cakes have cooled, giving your cupcakes a lovely sticky top.

Quite a few recipes for ginger cake that I’ve seen use milk as the main liquid. In my recipe I’ve opted for buttermilk as in testing I found that this gave the cakes a moister, softer texture. The cakes made with milk were still delicious but were a little firmer and springier in texture. If you can’t get hold of buttermilk then the recipe does also work with milk or natural yogurt, but I’d recommend having a go at the buttermilk version at some point, you won’t regret it!

Sticky Gingerbread Cupcakes

These delicious sticky gingerbread cupcakes are made with ground ginger, chopped stem ginger and brushed with ginger syrup so they’re packed full of flavour and perfectly moist. The ideal treat for any gingerbread lovers.

Free From/Suitable For…

The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.

We baked these today but as it is lockdown we had no stem ginger and couldn’t exactly nip out for some. Instead, I used crystallised ginger. On the top I sprinkled finely chopped crystallised ginger just before I popped them in the oven. They came out perfectly, with a crunchy ginger topping. We were very impressed, they won’t last long.

The honest answer is I’m not 100% sure. I tried it and I wasn’t completely happy with the rise of the cake in the loaf tin. However I have had comments from someone else who tried it and loved it. It’s something I have on my list to work on and perfect.

You can. I usually share recipes for 12 cupcakes (so they fit nicely in one muffin tin), but in this case, the smallest quantity I could make was 16 with one egg. If you only want to make 12, the solution is to crack your egg into a bowl and lightly beat it to combine the white and yolk and then weigh out 3/4 of the egg (about 44g). For the other ingredients, simply weight out 3/4 of the measurements listed.

Love your recipes, I tried your caramel cupcakes recipe a few weeks ago and they came out perfectly delicious! I was wondering if I can substitute stem ginger for fresh grated ginger? – How much would you suggest? I have some home made ginger syrup, so I was thinking I might soak it in that before adding to the cupcake mixture.

Fresh ginger has a much harsher flavour and texture than stem ginger, so I don’t think it would work particularly well to simply substitute it. However, you can make your own stem ginger from fresh ginger (plus some sugar and water) in a couple of hours. There’s a recipe here if you’d like to take a look https://www.talesfromthekitchenshed.com/2016/10/homemade-stem-ginger/

Sophie Ellissays

January 22, 2019 at 9:42 am

These are superb, so gingery and light. I love the inclusion of the stem ginger. I see you have a ginger cheesecake so will definitely be trying that in the next few weeks. Love these!

I’ve just told my husband about the custard suggestion, now he wants to try that too 🙂

Pipsays

November 27, 2018 at 9:49 pm

Hi Charlotte, Just made these today as a trail run to see if I like them and maybe good for a Christmas treat… Well, they are amazing!!. Will definitely make them again. What a FAB FAB recipe. Moist and packed full of flavour.. Thank you

This one should be easy to de-gluten. Let me know how it goes if you try it.

Emmasays

June 08, 2018 at 6:23 am

When I saw these I knew I had to make them as I love anything with ginger in. I wasn’t disappointed, they really taste of ginger because of the stem ginger balls and are the right amount of sticky. Great recipe and I’ll definitely be making these again.